INTEGRATED APPROACH COMBINING DIRECT SURVEY AND OBSERVATION IN DAMAGE ANALYSIS IN CASE OF SOIL SETTLEMENT

Abstract. Nowadays, different methods are used to study historical masonry buildings. Among these, for the study of architectures with complex geometry, the effectiveness of an integrated approach, that is a method of analysis combining different disciplines, is increasingly evident. The aim of this paper is to show the importance of combining direct observation with structural analysis in order to understand the level of safety in buildings with composite geometries. This paper describes the analysis executed in the XX century parish church of San Bernardino in Sesto Calende (Va), which displays serious cracks and damage caused by soil settlements. The integrated approach starts with historical analysis, by consulting all available documents and drawings. To understand the geometry of the structure a new survey has been made and a three-dimensional digital representation was modeled, by which better deriving the weight of all the elements in the construction, and to find the correct actions and thrust on arches, columns, bases and foundation. All this data was used in the structural analysis based on the static method of limit analysis. For the material behavior the model proposed by J. Heyman (1966) is used, considering the “no tension” failure criterion. The static theorem of minimum reactions for settled states enunciated by M. Como (2010) is employed for the analysis of soil settlement effects on the building’s response. The work shows how direct survey of geometry and damage of a complex building has an effective importance in the structural analysis to ensure Cultural Heritage preservation and safety.